Special Purpose schools and
programs work with children who are failing in the job of growing up.
They are a fairly new phenomenon in this country since most of them
are less than ten years old. They seem to be a blend of traditional
academic boarding schools and various therapeutic models, with a heavy
dose of wilderness and experiential education thrown in. They are a
positive-orientation reaction to the punishment minded reform schools
of an earlier era. They also seem to be a successful manifestation of
the move for privatization in education.

I have never seen a comprehensive
definition of Special Purpose schools as a category, but, as a start
toward a definition, let me list some attributes I see from my experience.

They are usually private,
put together by an educational entrepreneur with a vision. Public
schools are not automatically eliminated in my view, but are so
hamstrung by federal, state, and local regulations that the public
school focus tends to be on satisfying outside mandated requirements
instead of the needs of their students.

The most important criteria
for hiring staff tends to be their ability to relate positively
with the students. Credentials are important, but secondary to the
ability to establish positive relationships.

Parent or guardian involvement
is strongly encouraged, and in some cases mandated.

Wilderness and outdoor
activities are important and usually an integral part of the curriculum.

A major goal of the school
or program is to specifically teach values such as personal responsibility,
honesty, and consequences of actions.

Service projects to the
community are very commonly used to teach personal values.

They see their goal as
the education of the whole child.

They are usually residential.

These schools see the
cause of academic failure as usually evolving out of emotional and
behavior problems.

They usually do not believe
in punishment as such, but help facilitate natural consequences
as a more effective way to help students learn responsibility for
themselves.

Most Special Purpose
school teachers feel they are making a difference. I see much less
job frustration than I do in the public system for example.

A key tool is one-on-one
interaction between the student and the faculty.

The whole philosophy of Special
Purpose schools and programs is different than any other kind of youth
institution. In the scheme of youth programs, these schools lie somewhere
between traditional schools, and hospitals. Many children currently
in hospitals could be better served by the structure of a special purpose
program. At the same time, many children would do better if their parents
would send them to a Special Purpose school or program rather than desperately
trying to find a traditional school with "the magic touch." They are
an alternative to programs which use punishment as a means of changing
attitudes, seeing punishment as too often teaching resentment, bitterness,
and manipulation.

With this as a background,
let me try a definition. Special Purpose schools and programs are ones
that respond to the child's needs ahead of other considerations, and
have a whole child philosophy which expressly addresses the child's
mental, physical and emotional growth in a positive, trust fostering
environment. I would welcome any suggestions toward an improvement of
this definition.